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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Six members of the Vice Lords gang in Detroit pleaded guilty
this week to various racketeering and firearms offenses based on their roles in
the gang-related shooting of four individuals.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern
District of Michigan, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Special Agent in Charge Robin
Shoemaker of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Detroit Field Division, Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s
Detroit Division and Chief James Craig of the Detroit Police Department made
the announcement.

On Jan. 25, 2016, Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of
assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and one count of using
and carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.On Jan. 26, 2016, Nelson pleaded guilty to
one count of RICO conspiracy.On Jan.
27, 2016, Clark pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder in aid of
racketeering and one count of using and carrying of a firearm during and in
relation to a crime of violence.On Jan.
28, 2016, Lee and Kinchen each pleaded guilty to one count of RICO conspiracy;
Price pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of
racketeering and one count of using and carrying of a firearm during and in
relation to a crime of violence.

According to the plea agreements, the Vice Lords is a
national gang engaged in a variety of crimes, including murder, robbery,
narcotics trafficking and witness intimidation.The defendants admitted that the Vice Lords’ leaders are located in
Chicago and Detroit and that the gang is broken down into various “sets,”
“decks” or “branches.”Members who seek
to leave the gang oftentimes endure a physical beating by multiple Vice Lord
members or are targeted for killing.The
racketeering activity included, from 2011 through 2015, trafficking in
controlled substances, including marijuana, Xanax and ecstasy, at locations in
and around the Detroit metropolitan area, including at Northland Mall in
Southfield, Michigan.

As admitted in the plea agreements, members of the Traveling
Vice Lords set, acting at the direction of Smith and others, searched for two
brothers who had left, or attempted to leave, the Vice Lords as part of a plan
to harm those individuals.The defendants
further admitted that on May 7, 2015, they and others met at Smith’s house to
discuss their plan and collect firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, then
traveled in multiple cars to the intended victims’ house.After a brief confrontation with the
brothers’ family members, Clark opened fire with an AK-47, firing at the family
more than two dozen times and hitting four victims.

The charges related to the shooting are a component of the
federal government’s prosecution of the Vice Lords street gang, which has led
to the arrests and convictions of Vice Lords leaders and members over several
years.In two trials during March and
May 2015, juries convicted eight leaders and members of the Phantom Outlaw Motorcycle
Club, many of whom were also leaders and members of the Vice Lords, for various
crimes, including a mass murder plot against a rival organization of the
Phantoms and the shooting of a member of another rival organization.Among those eight convicted defendants was
Antonio Johnson, aka MT and Mister Tony, the national president of the Phantoms
and the “three-star general” of the Vice Lords in Michigan, who was sentenced
to 35 years in prison on Sept. 8, 2015.

On Jan. 13, 2015, Christopher Tibbs, aka Chief Fatah, the
leader of the Michigan branch of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords, was sentenced to
346 months in prison for his role in helping plan an armed robbery.This case marked the first time that the
federal criminal street gang enhancement was charged in the Eastern District of
Michigan.

Kenneth Smith is currently a fugitive and anyone with any
information about his whereabouts is encouraged to call the U.S. Marshals tip
line at (313) 234-5656 and the ATF’s tip line at (313) 202-3400.The charges and allegations contained in the
indictment are merely accusations.The
defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The ATF’s Comprehensive Violence Reduction Program, which
includes representatives of the Detroit Police, Michigan State Police and
Michigan Department of Corrections, is investigating the case in coordination
with the FBI and DEA.Trial Attorney
Joseph Wheatley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Graveline and Mark Bilkovic of the Eastern
District of Michigan are prosecuting the case.